For the first time since the second world war, the number of displaced people has topped 50 million, according to a June report from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). As wars drag on in countries such as Afghanistan and Syria, and as disaster-stricken areas like Haiti struggle to rebuild, the need for transitional shelter – something more than a tent but less permanent than a house – has never been greater.

In recent years, many designers have turned up interesting and sometimes fantastical designs for semi-permanent housing. But few ever make it beyond the prototype phase, failing to tackle the unforgiving logistics of cost, weight and volume, not to mention the broader issues of land rights, political barriers, local livelihood and cultural appropriateness.

This hasn’t discouraged others from trying. Here are eight companies and social businesses that could crack the nut.

Refugee housing by Ikea

Ikea’s 88-square-foot transitional shelter sleeps five and comes flat-packed with a solar panel, a USB outlet and a roof screen that reflects the sun’s rays while trapping heat overnight. In 2013, 56 prototypes were tested in UNHCR refugee camps in Ethiopia, Jordan and Iraq.

“Feedback from refugees has been very positive, with the designers receiving useful information,” says Jonathan Spampinato, head of strategic planning and communications. Many families, for example, requested the ability to move doors and windows to face relatives and friends, or simply to increase privacy. The designers reconfigured the windows to fit on any panel section of the shelter.

The biggest challenge? Each costs $10,000, although Ikea claims that will drop to $1,000 once they begin mass production.

Exo shelter by Reaction Housing

Exo units can be stacked to allow transportation in large numbers. A cargo ship holds300,000 units – enough to house more than 1 million people. Photograph: Courtesy of Exo

A styrofoam coffee cup inspired this stackable shelter: its outer shell fastens onto a base much the way a lid snaps onto a cup. Inside the 85-square-foot space, four bunk-beds secured to the walls can be lowered for use. And since the Exo lasts up to 10 years, it only needs to be cleaned for redeployment elsewhere.

“We anticipate producing up to 5,000 units over the next year as demand has been strong,” says Chief Operating Officer Graeme Waitzkin. The company – staffed with former designers and engineers from Frog, a leading international design agency – has raised $1.5m in seed funding, as well as an additional $75,000 in crowd funding to deliver 10 prototypes to the Syria relief effort this October. If it is able to reach full production, each shelter could cost about $5,000.

U-Dome by World Shelters

Since 2009, 24 U-Domes have safeguarded the homeless through the River Haven program in Ventura, California. Photograph: U-Dome

In the late 1970s, World Shelters founder Bruce LeBel studied with Buckminster Fuller, the renowned neofuturist architect. Following Hurricane Katrina, LeBel utilized Buckminster’s modular geometry to create a weathertight, post-disaster shelter costing as little as $1,500. Since 2009, 24 U-Domes have safeguarded the homeless through the River Haven program in Ventura, California.

“Bruce is willing to alter his design to better suit the needs of the people on the ground,” says Greg Hodgin of Peacebuilding Solutions, which is partnering with World Shelters to test a 200-square-foot unit in Haiti this November. “So many people assume they’re giving people what they need but never actually ask.” Ultimately, the partners hope to install 190 shelters reaching 800 people there in 2015.

QuickHab by Green Horizon Manufacturing

The QuickHab shelter was developed last year, when Green Horizon founder James Pope inked a $25m deal with FEMA to provide disaster relief housing. Photograph: QuickHab

QuickHab hopes to at least partially restore the the lost sense of security experiend by many displaced people with its shelters, which come with locks and keys. The shelter was developed last year, when Green Horizon founder James Pope inked a $25m deal with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide disaster relief housing. Since then, 300 units have been sold in Trinidad, India and Peru.

“An entire house can be shipped in a small bundle and set up in less than four hours,” Pope says. Panels fit into a single frame, and residents choose their own siding material. Each comes with a shower, toilet and kitchenette, running between $35 and $50 per square foot.

Global Village Shelter by Global Village Shelter, LLC

Thousands of Global Village Shelter’s flat-packed, durable units have been deployed to Pakistan, Honduras, Guatemala, Grenada, and New Orleans. Photograph: Global Village

Thousands of Global Village Shelter’s flat-packed, durable units have been deployed to Pakistan, Honduras, Guatemala, Grenada, and New Orleans – as well as MoMA’s permanent collection. The coolest thing about them? Its architects, Dan and Mia Ferrara, also created a modular factory that could be shipped anywhere for on-site production, bringing each unit’s $2,500 price tag down to $1000.

“Our system is the only system that is low cost, meets all international standards, can be easily shipped in containers, provides jobs for set up and manufacturing and works with local entrepreneurs,” Dan Ferrara says. The company has factories in Los Angeles and Mexico and is seeking funding to produce their shelters on a broad scale.

HuSH2 by Extremis Technology

Built especially for hurricane-prone areas, the HuSH2 only needs to be unfolded and bolted together to shelter a family of five. When a storm rolls in, the wooden unit can be reconfigured into a triangle that protects against Category 5 winds.

Extremis has raised nearly $300,000 in funding from private investors and organizations, and disaster-response agency Shelterbox has even helped test the $5,000 unit. CEO Julia Glenn says their first deployment is slated for early next year, though they are still tweaking its design. “We don’t want to be a western company that prescribes aid by our own definition to other areas of the world,” she says.

Intershelter by Intershelter

An Intershelter refugee shelter constructed in Japan. “There’s something about a dome that is very comforting,” says Don Kubley, CEO of Intershelter. Photograph: Intershelter

Before assembly, the Intershelter looks like a stack of Pringles potato chips. But when put together, its circular shingles form a 196-square-foot dome that can hold up under 200-mile-per-hour winds and 40 feet of snow.

“There’s something about a dome that is very comforting,” says Don Kubley, CEO of Intershelter. “You can’t be cornered.” Since Kubley bought the company in 2007, he has deployed 20 units to downtown Los Angeles for the homeless and another 24 to Japan for victims of the 2011 earthquake. Each retails around $7,000.

Rapid Deployment Module by Visible Good

Visible Good set up five of its insulated, lightweight shelters in Oklahoma after a tornado wiped out part of the town of Moore in 2013, and it is also developing a version for the US military. Photograph: Rapid Deployment Module

Visible Good set up five of its insulated, lightweight shelters in Oklahoma after a tornado wiped out part of the town of Moore in 2013, and is also developing a version for the US military, thanks to a $1m Small Business Innovation Research grant. “We got into the business for humanitarian purposes, but this is the only blueprint that is going to get us there,” founding partner Tina Newman says.

The company just won an additional $100,000 grant from MassVentures, and Newman says all the funding it has received has put it well ahead of schedule on developing a lower-cost transitional shelter for disaster-stricken areas. If all goes according to plan, the shelter could be ready in the next 12 to 18 months.

Laura C Mallonee is a New York-based writer. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Observer, The Paris Review and Hyperallergic.

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